The deadline for the ceasefire is approaching as Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of continuing the offensive
A US-brokered ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was due to expire on Monday with both sides accusing each other of violating a 72-hour deadline, as US and European officials looked at how to bring the warring countries to talks.
Ukrainian authorities said Monday that Russian jets, bombs and artillery struck residential areas northeast of Kharkiv and south of Kherson, killing at least two people and wounding seven, including a 14-year-old boy.
Russia's Defense Ministry insisted the military was “strictly observing” the ceasefire and accused Ukraine of repeatedly violating the agreement.
A similar ceasefire declared since Russia invaded its neighbor more than four years ago has also failed to stop the fighting, and efforts led by the US last year have failed.
The Washington-based institute, the Institute for the Study of War, said data from NASA observations showed that military activities slowed but did not stop after US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were with them. he accepted his request to stop fighting running Saturday through Monday.
The move was intended to mark Victory Day, a Russian holiday marking the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Russia and Ukraine have confirmed that they have agreed to a three-day ceasefire that will start from May 9 to 11, and US President Donald Trump said he hopes it will be extended. There will also be an exchange of 1,000 prisoners of war.
The agency said Sunday night that “cutoffs without enforcement mechanisms, credible monitoring, and defined dispute resolution processes are unlikely to continue.”
Trump had said there would be another prisoner exchange, saying the outbreak of war could be the “beginning of the end” of the war. Zelenskyy said that the settlement of 1,000 prisoners on each side is being prepared.
There are no signs that the two sides are ready to back down from their key negotiating positions, however.
Putin wants the entire Donbas region, Ukraine's industrial heartland, although his army has not completely captured it, but Zelenskyy says he will not surrender. Zelenskyy has offered a ceasefire and a face-to-face meeting with Putin, which the Russian leader has promised until a negotiated deal is concluded.
Putin suggested over the weekend that former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who had close business ties to Russia, could be a mediator. But German and European officials considered that a possibility even as they accepted that the European Union could play a more important role in peace efforts after being largely sidelined by Washington last year.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who has friendly relations with Trump, said in comments published on Monday that Europe needs to communicate directly with Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine during a Victory Day parade in Moscow, marking the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. These words came when US President Donald Trump announced that Russia-Ukraine will be suspended for three days from Saturday to Monday, and the exchange of 1,000 prisoners.
“It is time to start talking to Russia,” Stubb was quoted as saying in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has warned that the bloc needs to get its goals straight before trying to negotiate with the Kremlin.
“Before we negotiate with Russia, we have to negotiate what we want to talk about,” he told reporters in Brussels.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha joined EU foreign ministers at the Brussels meeting. “We have regular peace talks under the leadership of the US, and we need this channel and we need the leadership of the US. But Europe can also play its role,” said Sybiha.
Zelenskyy said on Monday that Ukraine has “almost daily contact” with representatives of the Trump administration. Rustem Umerov, head of the National Security and Defense Council in Ukraine, recently met with Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the United States, according to Zelenskyy.
“Importantly, America remains involved in the dialogue,” Zelenskyy told X.
We continue our almost daily contact with representatives of the United States. Today, Rustem Umerov told me about the results of his meetings with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Importantly, America remains engaged in speaking and, in particular, acting as… pic.twitter.com/0DczOngCZU
Sybiha noted that in recent months Ukraine has stepped up its operations on the battlefield, reducing Russia's main army to a slow and costly slog along the 1,250-kilometer front line, while using domestically developed drones and missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia.
“We have a new reality on the battlefield … Ukraine has become stronger after a very difficult winter,” Sybiha said.
Drone technology in demand
Cutting-Edge drone technology has been one of the main drivers of the success of the Ukrainian short-armed army. It also attracted international attention, improving Ukraine's international standing.
Zelenskyy said that about 20 countries in the Middle East and the Gulf, the South Caucasus and Europe are in various stages of entering into agreements with Ukraine regarding military-tested drones. In return, Ukraine receives fuel and money.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius became the latest European official to visit Kyiv, arriving on Monday on an unannounced visit that will focus on advancing defense cooperation between the two countries.
Germany has become the world's leading provider of security aid to Ukraine, accounting for nearly one-third of all aid the country receives, Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Monday, according to Ukrainian media.
Germany has helped provide an “unprecedented package” of air defense missiles to Ukraine, Fedorov said, and has begun financing the production of medium-range strike drones, which he described as critical to deep-strike operations.
Ukrainian private companies are receiving calls from countries across the Middle East, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, asking for interceptor drones. Cheap weapons are needed to fight Iran's Shahed drones as the US and Israel-Iran war escalates.
